Charles Dickens with his Family, Friends and the Cast of the "Frozen Deep"
July, 12, 1857

Media: Albumen photograph mounted on card stock

Photographer: William Jeffrey (1826-1877)

Essay written and published: 2017

Several years ago I purchased a photograph at The Exhibition Hall, Charnock Richard, Chorley, England. At the time, I only knew that it was a group portrait featuring Charles Dickens. With the arrival of the World Wide Web and of multiple online resources, I finally decided to research the photograph. The result: I have yet to find another surviving print of this photograph in any public collection: this may be the only one still extant.[1]

In early 1856, the writers Charles Dickens (1812-1870) and Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) discussed producing a play called the "Frozen Deep" which Collins would write and Dickens perform in (they had previously worked on several plays together). The "Frozen Deep" was based on the failed 1846-47 expedition by Sir John Franklin that sought to discover a Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific through the Canadian waterways. Both Franklin and his crew died of hypothermia, tuberculosis, lead poisoning, scurvy, and murder with the possibility of cannibalism.

For the role of Richard Wardour, Dickens grew a beard; built a stage at his home at Tavistock House, London that could accommodate up to 90 people; hired his son's friend, Francesco Berger to conduct a chamber orchestra; recruited George Clarkson Stanfield and William Telbin to paint the background scenery; drafted his children Charley, Mamie and Katie, his brother Alfred and his sister-in-laws, Helen and Georgina Hogarth as actors. Other parts were played by his friends Edward Pigott, Mark Lemon, Wilkie Collins, Augustus Egg, Frederick Moule Evans and Shirley Brooks. After the conclusion of the play was an intermission followed by a short farce that ended the evenings on a light hearted note. Rehearsals began in December of 1856 with sold out performances on January 6, 8, 12 and 14 of 1857.[2]

"Authors, poets, painters, actors, journalists, judges (including the Lord Chief Justice of England), barristers, ambassadors, members of Parliament, ladies of fashion, equerries to the Queen, publishers, critics, sat side by side in spellbound admiration, or jostled one another in the crowded refreshment-room after the performance." [3]

In June, after hearing of the death of his friend, Douglas William Jerrold, Dickens decided to revive the play to generate funds for the support of the widow and child. The venue was moved to the Gallery of Illustration, London with the first performance on July 4, 1857, for Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, several other royals from Europe and the literary figures of William Thackeray and Hans Christian Andersen (who was staying with Dickens as a guest). Additional performances were on July 11, 18 and 25.

Following the Saturday, July 11th performance, Dickens solicitor, Frederic Ouvry, had invited guests to his house and garden via an illustrated invitation for Sunday, July 12th, to meet Dickens, his theatrical group as well as the author and lecturer, Albert Smith. The outdoor party was held at Waltham Green in the parish of Fulham, Middlesex. It was here at this event that the group portrait was taken.

Little is known of the photographer William Jeffrey (1826-1877). Born and christened in St. Pancras, London he was a commercial photographer working in 1856, when John Ruskin sat for him for two portraits. [4] We also know that he was active in London as reproductions of his photographs were published in the Illustrated London News between the years 1864-1875. Finally, 35 samples of his work including the poet Robert Browning and the writers Thomas Caryle, Alfred Tennyson and the painter William Holman Hunt reside at The National Portrait Gallery, London. Other than these few bits and pieces, his life is a mystery.

There are, however, several interesting things about this photograph:

1. The absence of Alfred Lamert Dickens (1822–1860), Charles Dickens younger brother and a principal actor in the play. It is notable and unfortunate as there are few portraits of him.

2. From a chronological perspective of Dickens life, the photograph is significant as it was made just a few weeks before he met the young actress Ellen Ternan. Ellen and her sister Maria along with their mother were three of the five professional actors who Dickens hired to replace his daughters and the Hogarth girls when the play was performed in Manchester in August, 1857. Dickens relationship with the teenage Ternan caused the separation of his marriage in 1858, as well as the breakup of numerous business and literary friendships (including some of the sitters shown in the photograph) as family members and their social circle chose sides between the husband and the wife.

3. It is not known if it was Dickens or his solicitor, Frederic Ouvry, who hired Jeffrey to take the group photograph. Whoever it was, it is unusual that there are few, if any, other photographic prints that have survived, considering Dickens popularity and social status. Until other prints can be located with additional information, everything which follows is supposition.

My theory is that this was arranged and paid for by Frederic Ouvry, to memorialize his social event and to burnish his credentials with Dickens who just became his client in 1856. I believe that there were only a few prints made for the sitters and for the host. This would explain the limited number of prints to survive. If this is the case, then it's also probable that Ouvry had a contractual arrangement with Jeffery that he could not distribute unauthorized copies of the photograph under the threat of legal action.

While the exact history may never be known, this unusual image needed a good home. In December of 2017, Marilyn Citron and I donated this photograph to the Dickens Museum in London.

I would like to give a special thanks to Professor Emeritus Walter Levy of Pace University for his insight on Frederic Ouvry's picnic party featuring Dickens and Arthur Smith.

[1] There are a couple of photogravures* in public collections made from this photograph (not necessarily this print). In 1899, Francesco Berger, the composer (and one of the sitters in the photograph) presented one to Joseph Bennet. That photogravure was gifted to the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 1924, by Alfred Jones. It is possible that Berger had the photogravures made and one of them was used as an illustration in his 1913 book, "Reminiscences, Impressions, & Anecdotes ... Illustrated". Dickens biographer, Claire Tomalin, used this illustration from Berger's book in her 2011, biography on Dickens, which is in the British Library.
*A photogravure is a photo-mechanical process where an original photograph is copied onto a copper plate and then etched producing continuous tones similar to a real photograph. It has been widely used since the 1880's in book printing because of the ease of mass production. Using real photographs would require an individual to hand tip-in each print.
[2] L&H Nathan of Tichbourne Street, Haymarket, a company specializing in theatrical props and costumes was retained as well as William Wilson of the Strand for the wigs.
[3] Francesco Berger, "Reminiscences, Impressions, & Anecdotes ... Illustrated", printed in London by Sampson & Co. 1913
[4] Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography, edited by John Hannavy, Routledge 2005. p. 1225. Like most 19th century photographers, Jeffery probably started as an assistant to another London photographer to learn the trade and then struck out on his own.

Key to the Photograph

Back Row Standing

#5 William Telbin (1815-1873), painter of theatrical scenery

#6 Identified as (Mr.) "Evans" possibly Horace Moule Evans (1841-1923), brother of Frederick Moule Evans #12 and Elisabeth Matilda Moule Evans (1839-1907) #23. All three were children of Frederick Mullett Evans (1803–1870), Dickens printer and publisher

#8 Charles William Shirley Brooks (1816-1874), journalist and playwright

#9 Mark Lemon Jr (1840-1924), son of Mark Lemon

#10 (Henry) Whitworth Jones (1817-1891), opera singer

#12 Frederick Moule Evans (1832-1902), son of the printer and publisher of Dickens work

#13 Marcus Clayton Stone (1840-1921), genre painter and illustrator

#16 Francesco Berger (1834-1933), pianist and composer

#17 Mark Lemon (1809-1870), editor of Punch

#18 Augustus Leopold Egg (1816-1863), genre and history painter

Second Row, Sitting in Chairs

#3 Albert Richard Smith (1816–1860), Author, entertainer, and mountaineer. Albert's brother Arthur, was Dickens manager and personal secretary.

#7 Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793-1867), Marine and landscape painter

#23 Elisabeth Matilda Moule Evans (1839-1907), married Charles Dickens Jr. in 1861, over the objections of his father, Charles Dickens.

#11 Edward Frederick Smyth Pigott (1824-1895), Journalist

#24 Frances Minto Elliot (née Dickinson) (1820-1898), Writer and author

#15 John Dalbiac Luard (1830-1860) painter and engraver

Front Row Seated on the Grass

#4 Identified as (Mr.) "Keith". I can find no reference to a "Keith" in Dickens circle in either his surviving letters or from the Playbills from the performances at Tavistock House and the Gallery of Illustration, London or the Manchester Free Trade Hall.

#2 Charles Culliford Boz ('Charley') Dickens (1837-1896), Magazine editor and compiler of guidebooks; son of Charles Dickens

#22 Catherine ('Katey') Dickens (1839-1929), Painter, daughter of Charles Dickens. She married Wilkie Collins's brother who was also an author, Charles Allston Collins and after his death, married the artist, Charles Edward Perugini.

#21 Georgina Hogarth (1827-1917), sister of Charles Dickens wife, Catherine, who oversaw the Dickens household after his separation from Catherine in late, 1857

#20 Mary ('Mamie') Dickens (1838-1896), Author, daughter of Charles Dickens

#19 Helen Isabella Hogarth (Mrs Roney) (1833-1890), Wife of R.C. Roney, sister-in-law of Charles Dickens

#1 Charles Dickens (1812–1870) Author

Charles Dickens, his Family, Friends and cast of the Frozen Deep, 1857

Charles Dickens, his Family, Friends and cast of the Frozen Deep, July 12, 1857

Charles Dickens, his Family, Friends and cast of the Frozen Deep, 1857

Key to the photograph